The Influence of Mencius’ Humanism and Benevolent Government on Contemporary Society

Auteurs-es

  • Qiong Yang Xiangtan University

Mots-clés :

Mencius, Political philosophy, Humanism, The idea of benevolent governance, Contemporary values

Résumé

Mencius inMencius inherited Confucius’ path of “benevolence” and formed a relatively complete political theory of benevolence. The concept of “benevolent governance” is also a “royal way”. Its main content is to control the people’s property, take people’s ownership, do not violate agricultural seasons and attach importance to moral education. The core of benevolent governance is Mencius’ people-oriented ideology. The concentration of his people-oriented ideology is reflected in the following three aspects: those who win the people’s hearts will win the world, the relationship between the people and the monarch, and the way of serving the monarch and the minister. Mencius’ political theory outlined the blueprint for governing the country in ancient Chinese society and had a profound impact on traditional Chinese politics. Starting from the perspective of Mencius’ “benevolent governance” and people-oriented ideology, this paper systematically discusses Mencius’ governance ideology, thereby highlighting the special significance and charm of Mencius’ political philosophy. The people-oriented ideology in Mencius’ political theory has inspired a people-oriented harmonious society’s construction in contemporary society. Mencius attaches great importance to the core concept of moral education and provides guidance for the construction of political and spiritual civilization in today's society.herited Confucius” path of “benevolence” and formed a relatively complete political theory of benevolence. The concept of “benevolent governance” is also a “royal way”. Its main content is to control the property of the people, take ownership of the people, do not violate agricultural seasons, and attach importance to moral education. The core of benevolent governance is Mencius’ people-oriented ideology. The concentration of his people-oriented ideology is reflected in the following three aspects: those who win the hearts of the people will win the world, the relationship between the people and the monarch, and the way of serving the monarch and serving the minister. Mencius’ political theory outlined the blueprint for governing the country in ancient Chinese society and had a profound impact on traditional Chinese politics. Starting from the perspective of Mencius’ “benevolent governance” and people-oriented ideology, this paper systematically discusses Mencius’ governance ideology, thereby highlighting the special significance and charm of Mencius’ political philosophy. The people-oriented ideology in Mencius’ political theory has inspired the construction of a people-oriented harmonious society in contemporary society. Mencius values the core concept of moral education in governing the country, providing inspiration for the construction of political and spiritual civilization in today’s society.

Biographie de l'auteur-e

  • Qiong Yang, Xiangtan University

    School of Marxism, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105 – China. School of Marxism, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua, 418000 – China. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1790-6638.

Références

ALEKSANDROV, A.I.; KOVALEV, A.A. Philosophical conceptualization of evil in the ethical space of Confucianism. Философия и культура, v. 1, 30-41, 2021.

BLOOM, I. Mencius. Finding Wisdom in East Asian Classics. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.

CAREY, J.; VITZ, R. Mencius, Hume, and the virtue of humanity: sources of benevolent moral development. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, v. 28, p. 693-713, 2020.

CARLEO, R. A. Confucian freedom: assessing the debate. Asian Philosophy, v. 31, p. 211-228, 2021.

CHAN, E. Reconciling Confucianism with rule of law: Confucianisation or self-restraint? Asian Philosophy, v. 30, 1-20, 2020.

ESS, H. V.; SUNGMOON, K. Theorizing Confucian Virtue Politics. The Political Philosophy of Mencius and Xunzi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Historische Zeitschrift, v. 314, p. 399-401, 2022.

FAN, M. Understanding and translating Confucian philosophy in the Analects: a sociosemiotic perspective. Semiotica, v. 239, p. 287-306, 2021.

GAO, S.; WALAYAT, A. J. Confucianism and Democracy: Four Models of Compatibility. Journal of Chinese Humanities, v. 6, p. 213-234, 2021.

GE, X. Y.; HOU, Y. Confucian ideal personality traits (Junzi personality) and mental health: The serial mediating roles of self-control and authenticity. Acta Psychologica Sinica, v. 53, p. 374-386, 2021.

HUANG, Y. Justice as a Personal Virtue and Justice as an Institutional Virtue: Mencius’s Confucian Virtue Politics. Yearbook for Eastern and Western Philosophy, v. 4, p. 277-294, 2020.

HUANG, Y. S. Integrating the Thought of Mencius and Xunzi and the Problem of Modernizing Chinese Society. Journal of Chinese Humanities, v. 6, p. 21-42, 2020.

LO, P. Gratian and Mengzi. Journal of Religious Ethics, v. 48, p. 689-729, 2020.

MENG, F.; WANG, M. Social Governance Concepts in Traditional Chinese Culture. The China Nonprofit Review, v. 12, p. 131-160, 2020.

PURCELL, S. Hermeneutic, Comparative, and Syncretic Philosophy: or, On Ricoeurian. Confucian and Aztec Philosophy, v. 1, p. 1-6, 2020.

REN, J. T. Beyond Mencius and Xunzi: A Third Approach to Confucianism. Journal of Chinese Humanities, v. 6, p. 1-15, 2020.

SIN, W. Esoteric Confucianism, Moral Dilemmas, And Filial Piety. Metaphilosophy, v. 51, p. 206-225, 2020.

SONG, J. Mohist Theoretic System: The Rivalry Theory of Confucianism and Interconnections with the Universal Values and Global Sustainability. Cultural and Religious Studies: English version, v. 8, p. 178-186, 2020.

TU, W. Mencius, Xunzi, and the Third Stage of Confucianism. Journal of Chinese Humanities, v. 6, p. 1-12, 2020.

YI, G.; GUO, Q. Using Xunzi and Mencius to Adapt and Reclaim Modernity: A Reconstruction of Confucianism in the Modern Context. Journal of Chinese Humanities, v. 6, p. 64-76, 2020.

ZILIOTTI, E. An epistemic case for Confucian democracy. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, v. 6, p. 1-23, 2020.

Received: 10/07/2023 - Approved: 08/10/2023 - Published: 13/02/2024

Publié

2024-02-08

Comment citer

The Influence of Mencius’ Humanism and Benevolent Government on Contemporary Society. (2024). TRANS/FORM/AÇÃO:/Revista/De/Filosofia, 47(4), e0240083. https://revistas.marilia.unesp.br/index.php/transformacao/article/view/14844